FatManSeoul

The explosion of food diversity in Seoul over the past few years has been stunning. Just a decade ago chains like Bennigans and TGI Fridays were a big deal. McDonalds, that bastion of Americanism, only entered the Korean market 1988. Now diners here are spoiled for choice, with food hailing from Indian to haute French to Argentina. All you need to know is where to look, and Fatman is going to help point you in the right direction.

Samarkand is homey, honest, and authentic Uzbek food that attracts a wide range of diners. Their menu starts at borscht and runs all the way through to kebabs to salads to dumplings and breads. Despite the range of items, the menu focuses heavily on meat-and-potatoes, rib-sticking plates of lamb.

Lamb (or rather, its elder brother, Mr. Mutton) is everywhere here, and a stand-out in all forms. There’s the fork-tender lamb and potato combination plate, a crispy, flaky lamb mince pastry, and a strikingly good lamb kebab. The mutton is left in large chunks with a good, crusty char on the outside but still tender and soft on the interior. Many people don’t like the gaminess of lamb, but Fatman appreciates this aspect and likes the kitchen’s straightforward, traditional approach to the meat.

Meanwhile, other meats on the menu are prepared with the same simplicity and sincerity. Meatballs, stuffed cabbage rolls, dumplings, and roasts sets are exemplary examples of earnest home cooking that are examples of humble cooking done right.

You can’t go wrong here by ordering a few of the half-dozen kinds of bread and pastry on the menu. The lamb-mince filled pastries were remarkably good, and the other breads hold up as well. All have yeasty insides and the outsides have just enough of a cracking, resistant crust to make biting into one a pleasure, even when occasionally a chore.

Salads are bit of a mixed bag. The carrot salad was a masterpiece of carrot shreds cooked just long enough to make them tender and bring out the innate sweetness without over-cooking them into limpness. The sauce packed an herbal, earthy kick that may come as a welcome bit of spice to people accustomed to Korean food. The cucumber and tomato salad though was really just that – cucumbers and tomatoes. Mealy, acidic hothouse tomatoes don’t do the dish any favors (Fatman longs for the day when heritage tomatoes make it to Korea), although a side of yogurt can help make things more interesting.

Even the most exotic restaurants in Seoul often have a limited selection of beers and liqors from the same origin as the food. Taxes on beer and alcohol often make it prohibitive or impractical to import and sell at reasonable prices. Samarkand is exceptional for the wide selection of Russian beers and vodkas available, along with domestic and non-alcoholic drinks. The Russian beers have a prominent sweetness to them, even in lighter varieties like lager, giving them a very distinct taste that matches well with the food. Some of the food tends a little towards the greasy (a cherished but sometimes troublesome aspect of sheep flesh) and imbibing a little beer or vodka alongside helps keep the palate feeling fresh.

Since the emphasis here is simple, home style food done right, the decor is likewise humble. Service is friendly but not always the most attentive, and on Sunday nights the Dongdaemun location is packed solid.  Meanwhile, the Anam location is much, much quieter.   Food is priced extremely reasonably:  Kebabs hover around 3000 won each, pastries around 2000, and a full set with meat and vegetables or starch is around 5-6000. Two people can easily glut themselves on less than 20,000 won, including drinks.

Two locations: One near Dongdaemun Stadium, out exit twelve and the first turn on your right, down a back alley that we’re not even going to attempt to describe finding. The newer and slightly snazzier one is in Anam-dong on Chamsali-gil, above Baskin Robbins on the third floor. Take exit 3, turn yourself about, and head to your left, in the direction of Anam Rotary.